The Gamerscore Blog's own Nelson Rodriguez and Natalie Sousa from Talking About Games have just launched a new video series on Xbox.com, where regular folks are transformed into bloody characters from violent video games by Hollywood makeup artists. Did we mention you can win prizes?
The Monster Makeover series is an eight episode horror adventure that's a little bit video games, a little bit competition and a lotta bit makeup effects. During each episode (new episodes every Monday and Thursday) the Cinema Make-up School students are challenged to create a gruesome makeup masterpiece based on popular 360 video games including Left 4 Dead, Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, and Dead Space. Currently, episode one is available for viewing where our makeup artist friends must create Left 4 Dead inspired zombie models like the one you see above.
If you don't find much entertainment value in watching Hollywood makeup artists work their magic, then know that there are also prizes to be won. You can enter the Monster Makeover giveaway for a chance to win a 360, a nice mix of horror games and Zune music player. So, watch, enter the giveaway and please - friend to friend - try to use less eye shadow.
Last week X3F was lucky enough to attend the Canadian launch of Fable II for the Xbox 360 in Toronto, Canada. While throwing back a few brews, invited members of the Xbox community in Canada were able to play through the retail version of the game a week before its release. Canadian Xbox 360 owners connected to Live are now able to see some highlights from the event on Inside Xbox -- including interviews with (a mid-flu) Xav de Matos and our friend DjDatz. Non-Canadian members of the community are invited to check out the video above and see exactly what alcohol can do to some Canadians. Think of it as a Fable II promo and a public service announcement ... all rolled into one.
Attention soldiers: Looking to enlist in the good beta fight of Call of Duty: World at War? According to a slew of tipsters, FilePlanet is offering a limited supply of beta codes to some lucky members beginning today. In order to qualify, players must sign-up for a FilePlanet account or use an existing account -- a free account works, too -- and wait for notification if they've been selected for the Xbox 360 test.
Recently, Treyarch increased the level cap to 24 adding new perks and challenges to the online fray, the developer aims to give its upcoming Pacific-theater, World War II shooter an extra push before it releases to retail this November. Players looking for beta access are urged to register for the contest as soon as possible because codes are going fast. Looking for more on Call of Duty: World at War? Check out our impressions, including video footage.
Savvy gamers are already aware that gold obtained in Fable II Pub Games for the Xbox Live Arcade can be transferred to their characters in Fable II -- which releases today. While we've told you how it's done we thought we'd create a quick tutorial video and show you the quick and painless process. Also, make sure to check out Fable2.com (part of Xbox.com) and to win gold and items for your characters within Fable II. This video also walks you through the steps of obtaining those bonuses as well. We're all about helping a gamer out here at X3F.
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After entertainingly wasting a good ten minutes of our weekend, we figured we'd share with you the YouTube video series we've been watching. Behold! It's Halo 3 MythBusters!
DTHclan's Halo 3 Mythbusters - based on a show by the same name - takes a "scientific approach" (saved films) to either prove or debunk common Halo 3 myths. You know, myths like "you can carry three weapons using a glitch in CTF gametypes" or "the bubble shield is in effect before its animation." Each myth is tested and slapped with either a CONFIRMED or DENIED BUSTED tag. If that sounds interesting to you, then you're in luck! They just released a fresh episode (embedded above) and also have a catalog of four other Halo 3 myth-busting episodes. Go ahead and watch. It isn't like you have anything better to do.
Ever wondered what Epic's Cliff Bleszinski listens to while on the road promoting Gears of War 2? Ever had the urge to peer in on his music playing habits and critique his every song playing move? Well, thanks to the Zune software and the promotion of the Gears of War 2 Zune, you can!
Simply head on over to Cliff's official Zune page (we're told by MS PR that this is the real Cliff) to see what he has been playing, what his favorite songs are and wonder why Mr. Gears has played Usher's "Yeah!" twenty-four times. Really Cliff, Usher?
They say, "Time heals all wounds." Unless those wounds are a zombie bite, in which case you are pretty much done-zos. Capcom's Resident Evil 5 is slowing inching toward a release and throngs of excited fans cannot wait. How has the series sustained itself for so many years? Evolving both graphically and technically, Resident Evil has set the standard for reinventing itself countless times while telling a long, sweeping story that has spanned the globe. From its humble beginings of scaring us with pixelated slow-walkers to the HD-era of online co-op zombie action. Resident Evil 5 looks better than ever and on March 13, 2009, we'll all find out if it will be worth the wait.
Tomorrow (Tuesday), we will be digitally sitting down with team Bungie to chit-chat about Halo 3: Recon, upcoming Halo 3 DLC and any other topics that come to mind. But we need your help.
We formally request that you send us your burning Halo / Bungie related question that only team Bungie can answer. Post your hard hitting (or soft hitting) questions in the comments below, then we'll sift through them prior to Tuesday's interview and hopefully find a few goodies to ask. Bonus points to persons who generate questions that haven't already been answered (ahem) and don't receive a "not comment" response. Now get to it, comment us your Bungie questions ASAP!
Hey you, on Xbox Live -- Soulja Boy has called you out! That's right, every one's favorite game reviewer has made an official announcement via his YouTube page that he can destroy anyone at online gaming. Take your pick kids: Halo 3? You're done. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare? Don't bother. Gears of War? Put down the controller and walk away. Soulja Boy is so confident that he throws out the challenge to anyone willing to find him on Live. Want to go head-to-head with the artist? Check out the video after the jump for his Gamertag -- of course the video is NSFW. Good luck, kids.
There is little doubt that fighting games and arcades go hand-in-hand, so the death of arcades should mean the death of the genre, right? No! Thanks to the advent of online competition, fighting games have been given a new lease on life. One of the many fighting titles still battling for console attention is the upcoming Street Fighter IV from Capcom. Bringing the series back to the quarter-stealing roots of Street Fighter II, SFIV is one of our most anticipated titles of ... whenever Capcom decides to release it!
With the beta for the PS3 create-a-platformer Little Big Planet underway, it looks like many PS3 owners are dedicating their time to building levels designed to denigrate our console of choice, the Xbox 360. A quick search on YouTube reveals videos like the one above, which centers (perhaps justifiably) on the Red Ring of Death. There may be more of these anti-360 levels out there. We don't know and, quite frankly, don't care. What we do care about is a pro-360 level sent to us by a reader. We like it for its panache, creativity and, particularly, its toilet humor. Find it after the break.
Video games and politics aren't strangers to one another. Since the days of the crusades against Mortal Kombat -- pretty tame nowadays -- and extending into the storied and humorous career of one Jack Thompson, video games have lingered in the halls of politics (let's not get into all the unsuccessful and costly legislation attempts). We think this is, however, the first time that claiming a political opponent plays Halo has been used as a smear tactic. And yet, there it is. In a politcal fact sheet produced for Arizona's Maricopa County District 1 Supervisor race, the fact that 26-year-old Ed Hermes is an avid Halo player is used in an effort to defame him.
"Skilled player of the popular video game Halo," the flyer reads, opposite a more politically relevant statment about Fulton Brock -- Hermes' 56-year-old opponent. It continues with a quote from Hermes made in a university newspaper: "I am addicted to Halo, and play almost every night."
We find ourselves wondering if a young Fulton Brock was once accused by an elder statesmen of "Watching the boob tube," or "Reading the Devil's picture books."
Using poll information gathered from Gearheads this past February, GearsofWar.com just posted a new top five video, where they count down the top five Locust types as chosen by fans. The video (conveniently embedded above) is voiced by the one and only Damon Baird and starts off the top five countdown fun with those "dumb" Boomers. We won't spoil the countdown by telling you anymore, but we will say it's nice to see vintage clips of the original Gears. And for the record, it's more than apparent that Gears 2 is no Gears 1.5 ... just saying.
Want to know a secret? Videogame adaptations of war can be pretty violent. Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway is the recently released first-person shooter from UbiSoft that proves our point. Setting itself apart in gameplay style, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway features a light tactical overlay within its squad based system that allows players to control nearly all aspect of the soldiers under their command. According to Metacritic, if that's your thing, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway has been given generally favorable reviews; currently sitting with a score of 76. The trailer, found after the jump, showcases some of the more violent action in the game. Looking to see how insane war can be or just want to watch sheep react to physics through a grenade blast? Jump in.
When you stop to think about iconic characters for each of the big three a few easy ones come to mind. Master Chief owning on Xbox, Super Mario fighting for Nintendo and Kratos breaking dudes on the PlayStation (or insert your own characters if these examples don't work for you). One character that had the potential to be a huge gaming icon after his introduction was Earthworm Jim.
Jim had it all. Fun games, ridiculous cartoon and even action figures. Then one day the team that owned the rights to Earthworm Jim decided to call it a night and sell the character off for fear they wouldn't be able to bring him into the 3D world. David Perry, founder of Shiny Entertainment, has recently come clean on one of the biggest mistakes his company ever made; letting Jim get away.
"[Selling the rights of Earthworm Jim to Interplay] turned out to be the dumbest move ever," Perry said in an interview with Kikizo. "There's been other versions of Earthwork Jim done that were done without our permission really, licensing deals, and I was very unhappy about them." We'd be happy enough to see the original titles added to the Xbox Live Arcade or any news on the announced fourth title in the series.
You know, it's funny to hear losing Earthworm Jim was the biggest mistake in Shiny's history. We could have sworn it was just being involved with Enter the Matrix. Just saying.
Ever wondered what Epic's Cliff Bleszinski listens to while on the road promoting 
